I have mentioned Steve Copeland before. He is a missionary from New Zealand who teaches at a university here and owns an apartment which he rents out in order to support himself. He uses his English as a tool in ministry and it opens doors for him to build relationships with students. In the past he has started a school here in Kiev which offered free English lessons as a means of drawing new students to the gospel. He has turned that over to other hands and currently he runs a weekly Bible study and discussion group from his home (along with a home-cooked meal!). He uses this as a way to guide and mentor and evangelize.
A number of Steve's students (both believers and non-believers) attended this camp in July. Two of them gave their lives to Christ at camp and three are actively searching/seeking. They all are keeping in close contact with Steve's group and with myself and the other New Life intern. We have a wonderful opportunity to continue using our English skills as a draw and benefit to our ministry here rather than let our lack of Russian skills impede us. These students all speak English at varying levels and their English is an important part of the education at their university. Opportunities to talk with native English speakers are not taken lightly and discussion groups like this usually happen within a school situation and cost money. Of course, Steve always brings the discussions around to Christ and the gospel. He's not shy about what he's doing and doesn't hesitate to share with students the fact that he does these things for the sake of the gospel that he holds dear.
This camp (and the people who volunteered and helped) made a very real impact in some lives at camp. It was nice that I was already plugged into Steve's ministry before camp and have been able to continue interacting with these students and welcoming new ones to the group. Steve has encouraged me to start my own small group, using short guitar lessons as the draw. The format would involve a short guitar lesson at the beginning followed by a Bible study. Another ministry leader has suggested the same thing at a different time and I know there are already students interested in this.
Please pray for my courage to begin this endeavor if it is what God wants now. It will involve some firsts for me. I am also a little concerned about scheduling but I think that if I do it on alternating weeks (trying to shy away from the weeks I have extra evening rehearsals and services with the second worship team) then it can fit in. This would be a good opportunity to build common ground with some guys and have the regularity and opportunity to build into their lives.
Please also pray for Sasha and Sergei (new believers) and for the three students who are oh-so-close and who keep coming back for more: Eera, Sanya, and Vitya.
Here is a picture of Sasha which I caught recently. But regardless of the particular moment, this guy has not stopped smiling since he accepted Christ a month-and-a-half ago. I actually took this picture during setup for the last New Life camp which finished today. Sasha volunteered to help with the setup and teach a dance masterclass during the camp. He will also be dancing tomorrow in a drama at our church!
Here is a photo of a couple of my guitar students goofing off at Live Life Camp.
And here is a photo of our meeting area for worship and preaching. Some people put serious time into constructing this area. The photo above shows the stage area (which they built up in dirt with a small rock wall in front) and the one below shows the rest of the area. The church plans to put on a permanent roof when they have the funds.
Thanks for reading and supporting me. I know I have been seriously slacking on sharing what God has been doing here and what I have been involved in. I will try to post more information and photos from summer in about a week.
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